“I just got back from a 5 day epic adventure in Moab, Utah, riding my UTV on some of the most challenging and scenic trails in the country. Sponsored by Arctic Cat & organized by Jared Livingston and Lance Chournos, Rally On the Rocks , in its 3rd year, was the biggest and best yet. RoTR succeeded the very popular UTV Rally which I first wrote about in 2007 when the UTV industry was just beginning.

Friday night we were treated to a delicious catered meal provided by local favorite Pasta Jay’s. After the meal Jared & Lance presented all the trail guides with a special gift and honored last year’s guide of the year; Moab Cowboy. And like any top notch event they presented a donation to local land rights organizations Take Back Utah and the Sagebrush Coalition . They then topped off the evening with the crowd pleasing raffle. The vendors really went all out giving away thousands worth of product including Walker Evans Shocks, Discount Tire Wheel & Tire sets, and PRP Seats. A special raffle was also held to give away a Kymco mini quad which was won by a woman who just happened to have two little girls with her. The look on those two girls faces was priceless.”

Heidi Mount’s family’s favorite restaurant in Moab is Pasta Jay’s (4 South Main Street; 435-259-2900), which has huge salads and Italian-y entrees, perfect for carb loading before a day of hiking, biking, rafting or most likely all the activities available.

It was a misty May morning near Moab, Utah, and I was marveling at a rock: Fisher Towers, to be exact, an enormous hunk of rosy sandstone eroded over the centuries to resemble the fortress of a hermetic medieval wizard who happened to settle in southern Utah. I had pitched a tent in a campground ($12 a night) in the valley below with an outdoorsy friend. We slept next to the Colorado River. There was an outhouse, a Dumpster and a fire pit.

What had led me to this holiday? Perhaps it was Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness,” his 1968 account of being a park ranger in nearby Arches National Park, which chronicles the seasons he spent patrolling vast expanses of rock and shrub and having passive-aggressive dealings with various critters. Perhaps it was the idea of turning “luxury” on its head: I would wear only Tevas (purchased on Moab’s main street) and worn-out clothes with wicking; the chic local boutique would sell rocks; there would be no shower. Yet what wind and rain had conspired to create over the centuries — crazily beautiful friezes, surreal statuary, squint-and-you-could-be-in-the-Valley-of-the-Gods enormities, and arches galore — would make for a holiday of unreal privilege and glamour. For $12 a night.

And so it was. For two days we hiked through the Fiery Furnace (a reserve-early, permit-only rock maze/metropolis) and Canyonlands with its imposing Needles. Everywhere, everywhere, were jaw-dropping rocks: rocks that looked like wooden shoes, Knights of the Round Table, depressed nymphs, Babar and family. The scale and beauty of the landscape of southern Utah is so astonishing as to be almost oppressive, the way Renaissance paintings become too much to bear when visiting Florence. One seeks shelter after a time. We ate massive plates of eggs and pancakes at the Jailhouse Cafe, a carnation pink, picket-fenced, morning…

“We drove north for a short distance to the bustling city of Moab, Utah – centre for all things action from canyoning, rafting and rock climbing – I felt slothful watching all these people running and riding and being quite early were able to venture into Arches NP for a great afternoon. I liked the effect of the afternoon light on the very red, remarkable rocks. It was hard to comprehend that these features were made by water and winds. I was able to take the usual 40 min trek to offset American food and enjoy the fresh air.

To finish quite a relaxing day we enjoyed Italian take out from Pasta Jays which came recommended from guests at Valley of the Gods and certainly did not disappoint.”